Pirates!
by Biel
Summary: Based on the book Pirates! by Celia Reese: Nancy Kington used to be a pirate. Now she's given up the life to please her sweetheart William. But as time passes, Nancy wonders if this is really the life she wants. NancyXBroom
1. Chapter 1

**Based on the book Pirates! by Celia Reese **

It seems to be my destiny to continue this account. At the very least, Mr. Defoe of England shall have more material for his book than he can use.

My heartbeat had been rising at a steady pace as soon as land was sighted, but as we drew into the docks of Bristol, I thought it would hammer straight from my chest. I was specially attired in woman's clothing, which Broom had chosen for me.

"They bring out the best in you," he'd said, winking widely. I knew he meant the way the low-cut dress revealed my bosom, and I blushed, not yet used to pirate banter, even after all this time.

It had been four years since I'd seen the city, yet it looked and smelled the same as when I'd set out for Jamaica so long ago. I'd changed so much in that time; I felt like it should have changed with me.

As soon as the important matters were settled, I set off with Broom accompanying me- to Graham's house. Before all else, I wanted to see the man who'd been like a father to me. Plus, I hoped he might be able to tell me where William was. Though Broom claimed to be coming along to protect me from vagrants and such, I knew he was seeing Graham for another purpose. I hardly needed protection when I had two armed guards outside my carriage and a pistol hidden in my dress-I hadn't _completely_ reverted back to being a lady yet.

I kept my silence. I had much to think about, wondering if William would still have me, and what kind of life we could live together. How could I be satisfied confined to a house after being a pirate for years? I tried to push these thoughts aside. William would understand. I'd been planning to sail with him even when I was little - before becoming a pirate.

A shout from far off startled me. Broom, too, looked surprised, as if he'd been deep in thought. I realized the carriage had stopped moving some time ago. Yet why had no one come to tell us we'd arrived? I blushed anew as I realized the drivers must have supposed Broom and myself to be otherwise _occupied._ Broom grinned when he saw my face. He seemed unconcerned. It occurred to me that he'd probably been in this situation before with one of his whores.

Broom opened the door and jumped out, then offered his arm to help me down. "That'd be his place there," he said when I'd dusted myself off, pointing at a building across the street. Graham had done well for himself. His establishment was three stories high, made of fine red brick, delicately stenciled letters spelling 'G.H Graham, Physician' in glass.

The interior was clean and welcoming, dark floorboards shining warmly. Several comfortable looking chairs and a table furnished the parlor. I sat on one while Broom set about finding Graham. I could still hear him calling for the doctor after he'd gone through one of the doors. A moment later Broom reentered with Graham at his side, and a pretty brunette behind them. Graham came straight over to me, face beaming.

"Miss Kington, it's a pleasure to see you back in lady's clothing."

"That's what he said." I nodded toward Broom, who shrugged his shoulders. Graham laughed.

"This is the sister of a friend of mine. Amelia." The girl and I exchanged quick greetings, then she moved to stand by Broom. He said something to her quietly, and she giggled.

We all sat down to tea, during which I told the physician what had happened since he'd left the ship. Broom helped narrate at first, but pretty soon he was telling Amelia of his exploits as a pirate, seeming to forget Graham and myself. Graham, however, didn't appear to notice how chummy they were being.

"And now you're here to find your young man again." Graham said as I finished my story.

Amelia looked away from Broom for a moment. "You're here to find your man? How romantic!" Her green eyes sparkled. "What did you say his name was?"

"William Morris."

Her eyebrows rose slightly. "You mean Captain William in the Navy? About 24, brown hair."

"You know him!" I leaned forward and in my excitement spilled my tea. "Sorry!"

"Don't worry about it." Graham bent to clean it up. "Why didn't you tell me you knew William?" he asked, looking up from his spot on the floor.

Amelia shrugged her small shoulders. I'd thought _my_ dress was revealing, but hers nearly slipped off with that slight movement!

"I never knew a reason to tell. Anyway, I hardly knew him." Her interest lost, she turned back to Broom who'd been waiting impatiently for this sidetrack to end.

Graham turned to me, eyes twinkling. "I expect you're eager to see the lad again? He's on a voyage at the moment, but he should be back within the next couple weeks. Don't frown," he added as my face fell. Wait weeks to see William! "He'll be back soon enough. In the meantime, you can stay here with me and Amelia, maybe help me with my patients again."

"I think I'll stay too, Graham." Broom said without moving his face from Amelia. "Need a bit of a break from the sea."

For the rest of the afternoon, Graham told me of how he had started his clinic here, to much success. This was his second building; he'd had to move because the last one was too small to accommodate his practice.

"I'm quite pleased with the way my life is now," he said, eyes taking in the parlor.

He told me that one of his patients, also a good friend, had gone to France for treatment, and had asked Graham to look over his daughter Amelia as a favor. She's been staying with him for three weeks now. He hoped we would provide company for each other as I waited for William, and she for her father. I saw her fluttering her eyes at Broom and doubted it.

_-----I don't know William's real last name, so I made it up. If you do know, please tell me and I'll fix it.-----_


	2. Chapter 2

I quickly settled into the room I shared with Amelia above the office. Broom and Graham were a couple doors down.

Three days later Graham assured me that William would be back within a few days, earlier than planned. For some reason this didn't make me happy, only irritated.

For this reason I decided to take a walk outside without a chaperone. My stepmother would have been furious had she known, but I'd heard from Graham that she's moved to a small town miles away.

As I strolled through the gardens in a public park, I tried to sort out how I was feeling.

I was certainly on edge because of Amelia. She had a silly, selfish air about her. As soon as we'd retired that first night, she'd cornered me, asking about Broom and his tastes. She didn't seem at all concerned that he was a pirate, which bothered me even more.

The next morning I woke up early in order to tell Broom of my worries. I silently put a shawl on over my nightclothes because I feared the sound of me dressing would wake Amelia. I needn't have worried. I know now pirates could attack and she wouldn't wake.

I crept to Broom's door and knocked lightly. It was barely light, but I had no idea what sort of schedule Graham kept, and I worried about what he would think if he saw me.

At first I thought he hadn't heard me, so I readied myself to risk a louder knock when the door swung open and Broom appeared in the doorway. He was wearing only a pair of shorts, his dark, lean chest bare, but I hardly flinched. I'd seen my share of naked men on the _Justice_ and _Destination._ His eyes were blurry and his dark brows rose, but he didn't seem surprised to see me, only curious. _Maybe he's not surprised because he was expecting someone else_, I thought, but banished it immediately. Broom stood aside and let me enter the room, then shut the door behind me. I was only then aware of how this must look to him, knocking on his door at midnight in only my shift.

He seemed to be thinking the same. "What is it you want to talk about Miss Kington?" he asked, settling into a chair beside his bed.

_His blankets are all rumpled_ I thought. _Of course! You woke him a minute ago._

"Nancy?" he said again; his voice was hoarse, but he was grinning as if he could guess my thoughts. "I'm guessing that you aren't here to keep a lonely sailor company, am I right?"

My cheeks colored. "Of course not." I readied myself. "Are you certain you can trust Amelia to know about you being a pirate? I know Graham trusts her, but there's something about her that bothers me." I fiddled with my shawl.

"Is that all you came her for?"_ What else could there be?_ "Don't worry about it." He laughed shortly. "Amelia's fine. She's too stupid to do anything, Trust me," he added when I said nothing.

"Now then," he stood up. "If that's all, then I'll be getting back to sleep."

"Sorry," I mumbled as I left, embarrassed. That had been pointless.

After that I dressed quickly, not caring if I woke Amelia. She slept on. I then went down to the parlour, thinking to see if Graham was awake yet. As I went down, I noticed a letter in the parlour addressed to Broom. After my earlier embarrassment, I decided to wake a while before giving it to him. I continued on down, found Graham awake, and spent the rest of the morning helping him with his books. It was noon when I finished, and I figured Broom would be awake by then, so I went to his room to give him his letter. It was empty, but I thought Amelia might know.

And here is the other thing that was irritating me. When I opened the door to our room, Broom was sitting on the edge of the bed beside a fawning Amelia, buttoning his shirt. He merely glanced up when I opened the door and Amelia didn't acknowledge me at all.

I shut the door quickly, both heart and mind racing, cheeks flushed. My initial reaction was embarrassment, but that gave way to anger, I heard the doorknob turning behind me and realized I was still standing in the hallway. I hurried toward the stairs so I wouldn't have to meet either of them, but a hand grabbed me and spun me around before I reached the first step.

Broom was standing calmly before me, fully dressed right down to his boots. "Nancy."

"What?" I snapped, trying to twist out of his grasp, but he held tight.

He stared at me. "It's not as if you've never seen me with a woman before." That was true. Several times in fact, at the taverns we'd stayed at. But-

"This is different! She's not just some whore you picked off the streets. She's a lady. She has a reputation." I couldn't look in his eyes, so I stared at his silk neckerchief. It was pale blue.

"She didn't seem to mind," Broom said matter-of-factly. Then "Is that all you care about Nancy? Reputation?" He grabbed my chin and forced me to stare in his eyes. We stood there for a moment, and I almost thought he would kiss me, but then he thrust my face away.

"What was it you wanted? You were looking for me, right?"

"Oh." I handed him the letter. "I found it this morning." Broom gave me an odd look and took the letter. It was only then that it occurred to me what a dumb thing it had been to bring him the letter personally. There were servants for that. I felt like a complete moron.

I forced myself to walk away slowly. Every thought was a blur. All I knew was that I couldn't stay in that house any longer, and most certainly not in that room. In the end, I stayed, but only for Graham's sake. I didn't want to ruin the visit, or for him to find out what had happened upstairs.

I avoided the room- in fact the entire upstairs- for as much as possible the next two days, going up only to change. I slept downstairs on a couch in Graham's office, forcing myself awake early in the mornings so Graham wouldn't find me there and figure out what was going on. It was uncomfortable and needless to say, I slept very little.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning Graham had told me William's ship was coming in early and I'd gone to the park angry.

I thought of Minerva. I missed telling her things. There wasn't a secret I'd had that I'd kept from her. I began to feel homesick for Vincent's Island and the rest of the crew-

But no. That wasn't good. Broom was there.

I groaned. Why was everything so complicated? If only I could go back to the time before my father remarried, before William left for sea, when we played with the other street scum; when I was certain that I'd marry William one day. _That's what I have to hold onto_ I told myself. _That hope. _ I began to feel a little bit better.

"Oh Nancy! There you are." I turned around to find Amelia staring at me-wearing, I noticed, another much-too-small dress. "I wanted to talk to you about before."

"Yes." I managed through gritted teeth. Any good feelings I'd had had vanished upon her arrival.

"That was a little awkward," she said, giggling and blushing at the same time.

"I dare say it was."

"I was talking to Broom. We'd both rather you didn't mention this to Dr. Graham."

"Fine." I wanted to get her to leave.

"Good." She giggled again. "Oh yes! I was going to buy a hat. Would you like to come with me?"

I smiled sweetly. "I'd love to, but I have to do some work on the ship. Please tell Graham I'll be staying there for the next few days, and be sure to thank him."

And that's just what I did. Or tried to.

Most of my clothes were at Graham's house, so I made use of the captain's extensive wardrobe. Once I was more comfortably attired, I took a nap in Broom's oversized bed.

I woke to find both Broom and Graham staring at me. I became disturbingly aware of the things Broom had probably done on this bed. I yawned and stretched to cover my discomfort.

"Amelia told me that you plan on being on this boat for the remainder of your stay. Is something wrong, Nancy?" Broom was shooting daggers at me, but Graham only looked concerned.

"Everything's fine, Doctor," I told him cheerfully. "I'd just like some time alone before William comes. Here I can have my own room. Truth be told, I think I've grown a bit spoiled."

"Thank you all the same, but I really think it would be best for me to stay here for now." I could tell Graham was hurt, but I just couldn't see myself staying in the same house as Amelia. "I'll still come and visit in the day, of course."

"This is ridiculous Nancy!" Broom burst out. "All of your stuff is at Graham's."

"Then I'll just bring it here."

"I won't let you stay."

"Excuse me?" I stared at him coldly, anger bubbling in my stomach.

"This is my ship and you can't stay here."

"Fine! I'll leave." I jumped off the bed and made for the door. Broom blocked me. "Where are you going?"  
"Somewhere else. Now move."

"Don't be stupid," Broom growled.

Graham spoke up. "Let her go." When Broom didn't move, I kicked him between the legs,

ducked under his arms, and ran. I ran for a few blocks before stopping. I couldn't understand why I'd done that, but I'd had to get away.

I entered a tavern-one of the nicer ones, like William's family had owned. It was only after I'd sprawled out on the bed of my newly rented room that I realized how odd I must look, dressed like a man, but my long hair betraying me to be a woman.

_William_, I fell asleep thinking, _only a few more days._

Those days I spent wandering around the area closest to my tavern. I nearly decided to make good on my promise to visit Graham, but backed out at the last minute. By now I was too mad at Broom, and too embarrassed by my actions, to go back.

On the third day after leaving Graham's-the day William was scheduled to return- I forced myself to the physician's home. I was dreading seeing Broom and Graham again, but I knew I had to. To my relief, the doctor was the only person around when I arrived, and he said that he understood how I'd felt-though I don't know how, when I didn't understand it myself.

"Now then, my dear," he said, handing me a cup of tea, "I heard your sweetheart's ship docked late last night. You're eager to see him, no doubt." I nodded, but in truth I was having trouble conjuring up the excitement that I felt I _ought_ to be feeling.

"Would you like to change? If not, you should get going to be sure you'll catch him before he

decides to run off somewhere."

"Wait. Are you not coming?"

"I would like to see your young man, but this first meeting should be between you two. Besides, I have a patient coming in." a bell tinkled from the next room. "That's him. I'll greet him, then come right back."

"No. It's fine. I'll just go now."

"Good luck." Graham started walking away, but turned his head toward me for a moment to add "Your things are still in Amelia's room if you'd like them,"

I started for the stairs to change into a dress, but stopped halfway up. I liked wearing men's clothing. More than dresses. But I needed to change. I'd been wearing the same outfit fore three days, unwilling to go back to the ship or this house for a change of clothes, and it didn't smell ladylike.

An idea occurred to me. Smiling, I started up the stairs again. Ten minutes later I came back down wearing Broom's finest.

I found William's easily enough, but he wasn't on it. One of his crewmates, after staring at my odd appearance, directed me to The Queen's Hove, a somewhat seedy tavern popular among sailors. I spotted William easily enough since it was midday and the tavern was almost empty. He was sitting with two other men, appearing deep in discussion. I walked up to him, feeling strangely calm. "Hello, William," I said. He looked at me, surprised.

"Nancy? Is that you? I-"he glanced at the two men, who were staring at me oddly, and excused us to a private table. After another look at the men, he sat down. He leaned close to me and muttered "You shouldn't be here Nancy. You'd better get out of here." I stared at him, dumbfounded. "I'm serious Nancy. It isn't safe." He was talking quieter than ever; I could hardly hear him. I just continued my intelligent stare. William paused and looked at me, really looked at me, for the first time in years. "You look so different," he said softly. "Yet…" he fingered my hair gently.

"What's going on?" I demanded. He was acting strangely. Plus, I was having difficulty figuring out what I was actually feeling. I knew I was glad to see him, but I wasn't-

-William glanced up sharply, just as I felt giant hands grabbing my wrists. "Nicely done, Captain Morris," a deep voice from behind me boomed.

William moaned. He whispered to me frantically "I didn't-I couldn't- why'd you have to come Nancy, wearing that?" He gestured at my outfit.

Then I understood what was happening. I was being arrested. _I was being arrested!_


End file.
